Dominant centers are not easy to come by, so despite the immature antics and problems Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins tends to present, his upside was too great for the organization to ignore. According to reports, the Kings have inked Cousins to a maximum extension, worth four years and $62 million.
New minority owner Shaquille O'Neal has said in the past he plans on helping Cousins mature both on and off the court into a dominant force in the NBA. Back in June, O'Neal was quoted saying, "I'm going to make DeMarcus Cousins the best big man in the game."
Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive said at the time of O'Neal's announcement as a new owner:
"I don't want to say anything premature [about an extension], but I've been constant in my support for DeMarcus. I reached out to him when we first closed the deal. He was the first person I reached out to. They're out there practicing on their own every day and he's out there leading those practices. He's out there with the team practicing every single day by themselves. [The players] all came to Sacramento early. I don't know if that's ever happened."
It appears speculation of Shaq's addition was a marker of the team's plans for Cousins, who has averaged 16.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in his three-year career.
Having lavished significant money upon the young center, he will now be expected to behave in a fashion in line with his pay. In just three seasons Cousins has been suspended multiple times for behavioral reasons, including a team-issued ban last year following a nasty spat with head coach Keith Smart in practice. Cousins paced the league with 17 technical fouls last year, and ranked second in ejections with four, trailing only Larry Sanders of the Milwaukee Bucks.
In 2011-2012 Cousins was second in the NBA in techs with 12, behind Kendrick Perkins' 13.
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